THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Mar. 23, 2015
Volume IX, Edition XXXVII
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Mar. 23, 2015
Volume IX, Edition XXXVII
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What to Watch: Monday- Today is a travel day for Sprint Cup teams. Transporters are currently on their way back to North Carolina (with the exception of Furniture Row Racing, whose transporter is heading back to Colorado) where equipment will be swapped out for this weekend's haul to Martinsville. Furniture Row Racing excluded, the teams should be arriving back in the Carolinas tomorrow.
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Monday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
Brad Keselowski Victorious in Fontana Following Wild Last-Lap Pass
Monday's TV Schedule can be found in Couch Potato Tuesday here.
Top News
by the Frontstretch Staff
Brad Keselowski Victorious in Fontana Following Wild Last-Lap Pass
After Stewart-Haas Racing dominated most of the proceedings on Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, it was Brad Keselowski who reigned supreme after taking advantage of four fresh tires on the final stop and two green-white-checkered restarts to blast past Kurt Busch on the final lap. Points leader Kevin Harvick took second at the line after Busch brushed the wall exiting turn 4. Paul Menard was fourth, while Ryan Newman rounded out the top-5. Read more
Kevin Harvick Dominates and Wins the Drive4Clots.com 300On Saturday afternoon, Kevin Harvick took the lead for the first time on lap 38. From there, he would rarely relinquish the advantage on his way to his second XFINITY Series victory of the season. Brendan Gaughan finished second, followed by Erik Jones, Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher. Read more
Vickers Out Three Months at Bare Minimum
On Friday morning, Michael Waltrip Racing announced that Brian Vickers had been diagnosed with blood clots for the third time. As a result, he had to step out of the No. 55 Toyota. There is no official timetable for Vickers' return.
Prior to Sunday's Auto Club 400, Vickers stated on FOX Sports 1's NASCAR RaceDay that he will be back on Xarelto, a blood thinning medication developed by Bayer, but sold in the United States by Janssen Pharmaceutica (a sponsor of Vickers), for the next three months. During that time, Vickers cannot drive a race car due to the threat of severe internal bleeding should he crash.
Prior to Sunday's Auto Club 400, Vickers stated on FOX Sports 1's NASCAR RaceDay that he will be back on Xarelto, a blood thinning medication developed by Bayer, but sold in the United States by Janssen Pharmaceutica (a sponsor of Vickers), for the next three months. During that time, Vickers cannot drive a race car due to the threat of severe internal bleeding should he crash.
Brett Moffitt was recalled from Front Row Motorsports to drive the No. 55 Toyota in Vickers' place on Sunday. Moffitt qualified 30th on Friday, but was forced to start at the rear of the field after hitting the wall and having to go to a backup car. From the rear, Moffitt drove to a 22nd-place finish. Read more
Have news for The Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com with a promising lead or tip.
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FRONTSTRETCH JOB: WEBMASTER
Frontstretch.com is looking for a talented and motivated individual to fulfill the role of the site's webmaster. The ideal candidate must be highly proficient in WordPress, as the site recently converted from Textpattern to WordPress as the content management system. The webmaster will assist with leftover conversion tasks, work with the management team to implement site enhancements and help troubleshoot problems as they arise. The candidate must also have a working knowledge of search engine optimization strategies to help improve search rankings for the site. Motorsports knowledge is preferred but not required. The candidate should have on average at least 1-2 hours per week to devote to Fronstretch initiatives. If you are interested, please contact our Business Manager, Tony Lumbis at Tony.Lumbis@gmail.com.
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FRONTSTRETCH JOB: WEBMASTER
Frontstretch.com is looking for a talented and motivated individual to fulfill the role of the site's webmaster. The ideal candidate must be highly proficient in WordPress, as the site recently converted from Textpattern to WordPress as the content management system. The webmaster will assist with leftover conversion tasks, work with the management team to implement site enhancements and help troubleshoot problems as they arise. The candidate must also have a working knowledge of search engine optimization strategies to help improve search rankings for the site. Motorsports knowledge is preferred but not required. The candidate should have on average at least 1-2 hours per week to devote to Fronstretch initiatives. If you are interested, please contact our Business Manager, Tony Lumbis at Tony.Lumbis@gmail.com.
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Chasing the Chase: Harvick Continues to Expand His Lead
by Phil Allaway
Kevin Harvick was once again in contention right to the very end to pick up yet another win. When teammate Kurt Busch brushed the wall on the final lap, Harvick was able to slip by and earn another second-place finish. That was enough to expand his points lead to a hearty 28 over Joey Logano, a fairly big advantage for being only five races into the season. Martin Truex, Jr. feared at one point that his Furniture Row Chevrolet was down on power. However, that was not the case. Truex overcame an issue on pit road to finish eighth and keep third in points. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. moved up two places to fourth after finishing sixth on Sunday. Race winner Brad Keselowski is one point behind Earnhardt Jr., having moved up four places by virtue of the win. Much like last year during the Chase, Ryan Newman is using consistency to keep himself up in the standings. Sunday's fifth-place finish moved Newman up two places to sixth.
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne are tied for seventh in points, but they're going different directions at the moment. Johnson had a decent day, keeping himself in contention for most of the race before winding up ninth. Kahne was never in the hunt all day and finished 17th, dropping from fourth into that tie for seventh. Paul Menard had his best run of 2015 so far on Sunday, finishing in fourth. That was good enough to move Menard up two places to ninth. Aric Almirola's quiet 11th-place finish was enough to move him into the final spot inside the top 10.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kevin Harvick 225, 2) Joey Logano -28, 3) Martin Truex, Jr. -33, 4) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -61, 5) Brad Keselowski -62, 6) Ryan Newman -63, t-7) Jimmie Johnson -66, t-7) Kasey Kahne -66, 9) Paul Menard -73, 10) Aric Almirola -87, 11) AJ Allmendinger -88, 12) Casey Mears -93, 13) Matt Kenseth -98, 14) Denny Hamlin -100, 15) David Ragan -101, t-16) Jamie McMurray -105, t-16) Carl Edwards -105.
Race Winners: Joey Logano (Daytona), Jimmie Johnson (Atlanta), Kevin Harvick (Las Vegas, Phoenix), Brad Keselowski (Fontana)
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Letter of the Race: Sunday's Auto Club 400 was brought to you by the letter "M," for Mystery. Both races at Auto Club Speedway were marked by debris cautions that came out of nowhere, especially during the Sprint Cup event. - Phil Allaway
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Quotes to Remember: Auto Club 400
compiled by Phil Allaway
"It was really an up and down day, for sure, but as a team Paul and the guys on pit road kept fighting. At the end, we caught some breaks and made the most of the breaks we caught, and that was kind of the story of our race. It looked like we were probably gonna finish sixth or seventh there and then that yellow came out. We came in and pitted and drove up a little bit. And then caught another yellow and thought, 'Now what do we do?' So Paul made the call to come down pit road and put four tires on and when he said that, I said, 'This could either go really good or really bad.' I didn't know which one it was gonna be. Some guys stayed out. Some guys took two tires and all kinds of different strategies and on the restart, we were able to find our way through the lanes and get to the front there and somehow end up in victory lane leading the last lap. That's kind of a race car driver's dream and this is one we're gonna sit back and go 'wow' for a while on." - Brad Keselowski, race winner
"It was a fantastic day. The Haas Automation Chevy was fast. Thanks to Monster Energy, Mobil 1, State Water Heaters, all our great sponsors. It was a solid day. I don't know what we could have done different. We just got pinned in by the yellows and the sequence at the end on which tires we needed to have to optimize how many laps were left. We had two tires; (Brad) Keselowski had four. We didn't need that extra yellow at the end and I just got outmuscled by Keselowski." - Kurt Busch, finished third
"It's a fun track. It is worn out obviously, slipping and sliding, but it's got a lot of grip on new tires and then it goes away. Justin (Alexander, crew chief) and James (Small, engineer) and all the guys made some good adjustments last night and then again today throughout the race to try and chase that. The car changes so much from the beginning of a run to the end. We were actually pretty decent on restarts and then it would kind of go away and then come back toward the end of a run. An overall good day for the FVP/Menards Chevy." - Paul Menard, finished fourth
"We were OK. We got ourselves up to third and it felt like we were pretty good. We were every bit as good as the 20 if we could ever get out front, but we just made a mistake on pit road. I don't even know what happened yet, so I just know it was a tire violation of some sort, and we weren't able to recover in time. You get that with the last pit stop and we had a couple cautions to help us try to gain those spots back, but we just didn't get back there in time. I'm interested to see how Brad did it. He had four tires there, I think. That was a good call on Paul's part to make that happen." - Joey Logano, finished seventh
"We were way off after Saturday's final practice but came out today and did what we needed to do. I am proud of the guys for going to work last night and not being afraid to take a big swing at the setup. To go out there and run with a completely different setup than we had Friday and Saturday and come away with an eighth-place finish really says something about this team. We never give up and believe in each other. As mad as I was with the pit crew today I still feel they are good and we'll get it right. On that last restart, I wasn't in the best spot and lost some ground (fifth to eighth). On the previous restart, I was able to make a good gain in track position (ninth to fifth). It's been a great start for our Furniture Row team with five straight top 10s. We just need to keep it going and try to improve each week." - Martin Truex, Jr., finished eighth
"Yeah, there is a big hole underneath all of that. It just so happens that the right rear of his car is all tore to hell. He had a problem with the No. 43 car and when he got done drafting with him he drove across the racetrack into us. It's just stupid. I don't have a problem with [Truex]; I just didn't want my car tore up. He had a problem with somebody else and I'm the one who paid the price for it. I got a hole knocked in it and it takes us out of contention to have a top-10 finish. Like I said, I wasn't delusional that we were going to win the race or anything, but if he has a problem with somebody else and he has his hand out the window changing three lanes. Then, he drives back across and punches a hole in my nose, he is like 'well you could have lifted'. We are in the middle of the backstretch, why is it my responsibility to lift because he is arguing with somebody else? It's just stupid. Same stuff we always deal with kids." - Tony Stewart, finished 14th
"We fired off really good and just a little too free early. Racing with the 24 (Jeff Gordon), I think he just crowded me a little and I got loose and spun. That was certainly unfortunate. A pit road penalty hurt us under green and that's a testament to just keep working hard and never giving up. We want top-10s and top-fives – that's our goal and that's where the 18 car should be. I'm a little frustrated with our finishes, but we've had good speed, we work hard and all we can do is be positive and look forward to Martinsville. Thanks to Interstate Batteries and Toyota and M&M's for all their support and can't wait to get to the next one." - David Ragan, finished 18th
"It was a lot of fun. I can't thank Front Row Motorsports enough to give me this opportunity and for Roush Fenway Racing to allow me to go do it. To be able to help another Ford Performance team out this was a blast. It's the kind of race track I wanted to make my Cup debut at – some place that the pace falls off, the tires wear down and you're able to really hustle it and race late into a run and this was just that. We went through a lot of changes today, a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of confusion too on my side just trying to keep up with where we were at with the lucky dog and with wavearounds. Green flag stops, everything moved so fast and I really had no clue where we were gonna finish coming to the checkered. I didn't know where we were at, I just knew I had to beat a couple guys around us and tried everything we could. It was a lot of fun. Thanks to everybody with Ford that allowed me to do it. [The race] was nerve-racking at the beginning. The first 50-100 laps even just trying to race around some guys – just getting that little initiation, I guess – people pushing you around trying to show you who is boss, but after we got 100 laps in I just started to feel a lot better and started settling into a run where we were comfortable and a lot like our XFINITY race we were able to find a place and keep moving forward with that." - Chris Buescher, finished 20th
"We were good at the beginning and got off a little bit, but we had a bad restart. I got shuffled back beyond the top-10 and worked our way back to the top-five and then the top-three and then had a penalty. You just can't come back from that. There ain't nobody in the field with a fast enough car to come back from any penalties. We had one at the inopportune time and it just led to a bad finish and we blew up at the end. That topped everything off." - Denny Hamlin, finished 28th
"I think the 4 (Kevin Harvick) and the 41 (Kurt Busch) were the class of the field. I thought we had a top-five car all day and then I just had the best pit crew and they kept getting me out with the lead and giving me a shot, so it's disappointing. More so than the axle breaking, I'm just disappointed we're leading and we know them guys are a couple laps short and we got ourselves in position really nicely and there's a debris caution and you can't find debris anywhere – of course the leader always thinks that I guess, but I didn't see any that caution or the next one, so that's always disappointing. I'm sure I'll go watch it and I'll see something huge out there, but I just didn't see anything, so that was disappointing." - Matt Kenseth, finished 31st
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager as well as a Senior Writer for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com."It was really an up and down day, for sure, but as a team Paul and the guys on pit road kept fighting. At the end, we caught some breaks and made the most of the breaks we caught, and that was kind of the story of our race. It looked like we were probably gonna finish sixth or seventh there and then that yellow came out. We came in and pitted and drove up a little bit. And then caught another yellow and thought, 'Now what do we do?' So Paul made the call to come down pit road and put four tires on and when he said that, I said, 'This could either go really good or really bad.' I didn't know which one it was gonna be. Some guys stayed out. Some guys took two tires and all kinds of different strategies and on the restart, we were able to find our way through the lanes and get to the front there and somehow end up in victory lane leading the last lap. That's kind of a race car driver's dream and this is one we're gonna sit back and go 'wow' for a while on." - Brad Keselowski, race winner
"It was a fantastic day. The Haas Automation Chevy was fast. Thanks to Monster Energy, Mobil 1, State Water Heaters, all our great sponsors. It was a solid day. I don't know what we could have done different. We just got pinned in by the yellows and the sequence at the end on which tires we needed to have to optimize how many laps were left. We had two tires; (Brad) Keselowski had four. We didn't need that extra yellow at the end and I just got outmuscled by Keselowski." - Kurt Busch, finished third
"It's a fun track. It is worn out obviously, slipping and sliding, but it's got a lot of grip on new tires and then it goes away. Justin (Alexander, crew chief) and James (Small, engineer) and all the guys made some good adjustments last night and then again today throughout the race to try and chase that. The car changes so much from the beginning of a run to the end. We were actually pretty decent on restarts and then it would kind of go away and then come back toward the end of a run. An overall good day for the FVP/Menards Chevy." - Paul Menard, finished fourth
"We were OK. We got ourselves up to third and it felt like we were pretty good. We were every bit as good as the 20 if we could ever get out front, but we just made a mistake on pit road. I don't even know what happened yet, so I just know it was a tire violation of some sort, and we weren't able to recover in time. You get that with the last pit stop and we had a couple cautions to help us try to gain those spots back, but we just didn't get back there in time. I'm interested to see how Brad did it. He had four tires there, I think. That was a good call on Paul's part to make that happen." - Joey Logano, finished seventh
"We were way off after Saturday's final practice but came out today and did what we needed to do. I am proud of the guys for going to work last night and not being afraid to take a big swing at the setup. To go out there and run with a completely different setup than we had Friday and Saturday and come away with an eighth-place finish really says something about this team. We never give up and believe in each other. As mad as I was with the pit crew today I still feel they are good and we'll get it right. On that last restart, I wasn't in the best spot and lost some ground (fifth to eighth). On the previous restart, I was able to make a good gain in track position (ninth to fifth). It's been a great start for our Furniture Row team with five straight top 10s. We just need to keep it going and try to improve each week." - Martin Truex, Jr., finished eighth
"Yeah, there is a big hole underneath all of that. It just so happens that the right rear of his car is all tore to hell. He had a problem with the No. 43 car and when he got done drafting with him he drove across the racetrack into us. It's just stupid. I don't have a problem with [Truex]; I just didn't want my car tore up. He had a problem with somebody else and I'm the one who paid the price for it. I got a hole knocked in it and it takes us out of contention to have a top-10 finish. Like I said, I wasn't delusional that we were going to win the race or anything, but if he has a problem with somebody else and he has his hand out the window changing three lanes. Then, he drives back across and punches a hole in my nose, he is like 'well you could have lifted'. We are in the middle of the backstretch, why is it my responsibility to lift because he is arguing with somebody else? It's just stupid. Same stuff we always deal with kids." - Tony Stewart, finished 14th
"We fired off really good and just a little too free early. Racing with the 24 (Jeff Gordon), I think he just crowded me a little and I got loose and spun. That was certainly unfortunate. A pit road penalty hurt us under green and that's a testament to just keep working hard and never giving up. We want top-10s and top-fives – that's our goal and that's where the 18 car should be. I'm a little frustrated with our finishes, but we've had good speed, we work hard and all we can do is be positive and look forward to Martinsville. Thanks to Interstate Batteries and Toyota and M&M's for all their support and can't wait to get to the next one." - David Ragan, finished 18th
"It was a lot of fun. I can't thank Front Row Motorsports enough to give me this opportunity and for Roush Fenway Racing to allow me to go do it. To be able to help another Ford Performance team out this was a blast. It's the kind of race track I wanted to make my Cup debut at – some place that the pace falls off, the tires wear down and you're able to really hustle it and race late into a run and this was just that. We went through a lot of changes today, a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of confusion too on my side just trying to keep up with where we were at with the lucky dog and with wavearounds. Green flag stops, everything moved so fast and I really had no clue where we were gonna finish coming to the checkered. I didn't know where we were at, I just knew I had to beat a couple guys around us and tried everything we could. It was a lot of fun. Thanks to everybody with Ford that allowed me to do it. [The race] was nerve-racking at the beginning. The first 50-100 laps even just trying to race around some guys – just getting that little initiation, I guess – people pushing you around trying to show you who is boss, but after we got 100 laps in I just started to feel a lot better and started settling into a run where we were comfortable and a lot like our XFINITY race we were able to find a place and keep moving forward with that." - Chris Buescher, finished 20th
"We were good at the beginning and got off a little bit, but we had a bad restart. I got shuffled back beyond the top-10 and worked our way back to the top-five and then the top-three and then had a penalty. You just can't come back from that. There ain't nobody in the field with a fast enough car to come back from any penalties. We had one at the inopportune time and it just led to a bad finish and we blew up at the end. That topped everything off." - Denny Hamlin, finished 28th
"I think the 4 (Kevin Harvick) and the 41 (Kurt Busch) were the class of the field. I thought we had a top-five car all day and then I just had the best pit crew and they kept getting me out with the lead and giving me a shot, so it's disappointing. More so than the axle breaking, I'm just disappointed we're leading and we know them guys are a couple laps short and we got ourselves in position really nicely and there's a debris caution and you can't find debris anywhere – of course the leader always thinks that I guess, but I didn't see any that caution or the next one, so that's always disappointing. I'm sure I'll go watch it and I'll see something huge out there, but I just didn't see anything, so that was disappointing." - Matt Kenseth, finished 31st
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TODAY AT FRONTSTRETCH:
by Amy Henderson
by Summer Bedgood
by Jerry Jordan
by the Frontstretch Staff
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FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Got something to say about an article you've seen in the newsletter? It's as easy as replying directly to this message or sending an email to editors@frontstretch.com. We'll take the best comments and publish them here!
©2015 Frontstretch.com
Q: In 1995, Dale Earnhardt had a decent starting spot in the Hanes 500, but managed to find himself behind the wall for repairs before the race really got going. What happened?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Friday's Answer:
Q: In 2001, then-Roush Racing was forced to make a last-minute driver change prior to the then-Craftsman Truck Series' Auto Club 200 at California Speedway. West Coast racer Tim Woods was put in the No. 99 for the race, replacing Kyle Busch. Why was this move made?
A: At the time, the Truck Series season finale at California Speedway was held as a support race to CART's season finale. While you would have only briefly glimpsed it at the time (and it wasn't referred to as such on ESPN), that race was known as the Marlboro 500. Busch was still 16 at the time and Marlboro, upon seeing Busch's presence, forced NASCAR to kick Busch out of the garage. The idea was that Marlboro (via parent company Philip Morris, Inc.) would be viewed as violating the Master Settlement Agreement (a 1998 agreement between the U.S. Government and the four largest tobacco producers that, among other things, led to the one sport sponsorship rule for tobacco brands) and condoning youth targeting of their product if the underage Busch was allowed to stay. Shortly afterwards, NASCAR instituted the 18-year-old age limit in their National series.
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COMING TOMORROW
COMING TOMORROW
In The Frontstretch Newsletter:
We'll have breaking news from Monday and S.D. Grady's Sitting In The Stands: A Fan's View commentary.
On Frontstretch.com:
Danny Peters gives us Five Points To Ponder after a thrilling weekend of racing out in Fontana.
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Got something to say about an article you've seen in the newsletter? It's as easy as replying directly to this message or sending an email to editors@frontstretch.com. We'll take the best comments and publish them here!
©2015 Frontstretch.com
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